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90-Unit Sonobe Ball Assembly

About a month ago, I posted a tutorial on how to assemble a 12-unit sonobe ball. Easy peasy. But why not challenge yourself and make a 90-unit one?

Step 1: Make 90 sonobe modules.(Click here to learn how to make a sonobe module.) Use a thicker type of paper to get better results. No strict rules on color nor pattern. I made mine from five different colors so it’s easier to show which goes where.

Pre-fold sonobe modules like this:

Image from the 12-unit sonobe ball tutorial

Step 2: Create two “base” pinwheels (I don’t know what it’s officially called, but it looks like a pinwheel to me.) and ten “body” pinwheels.

Note: If you’re making a 5-color one like what I did here, make sure that the colors of the base pinwheels “mirror” each other. So if it’s red-orange-yellow-green-blue clockwise, the other base pinwheel should be blue-green-yellow-orange-red clockwise. (Does that make sense?)

Step 3: Attach the first five body pinwheels to the Base Pinwheel 1.

Step 4: Connect the body pinwheels together with a sonobe module (pink dotted line). Once you’re done, it should look like a 5-petal flower.

Step 5: After connecting the first five body pinwheels, you are now ready to add the rest. But how are you going to connect them together if the flaps and pockets don’t match up?

This is where it gets a bit confusing.

For each gap (right above where the body pinwheels meet), add two sonobe modules, one on each side. Check out the pink dotted line as guide for positioning.

Step 7: Do this with the rest and you should have six “spikes” where the first and second batch of body pinwheels meet.

Step 8: This is how it looks like from the top. It WILL look a bit wonky at first. Once you attach the last piece, just give the entire thing a slight squeeze to push the pieces in and form a round ball.

If you made a 5-color one, you’ll notice that the colors of Base Pinwheel 2 perfectly matches the color of the flaps. Attach Base Pinwheel 2 and you’re done!